How to Train Your Ex-Billionaire novel Chapter 28

"It was just for fun."

Those four words were like a dagger, piercing Winifred's heart and leaving it to bleed.

Looking back on their time together, she realized that Yvan had never officially asked her to be his girlfriend. He had never once said the words "I like you."

Back then, she had naively assumed that because they kissed, they were a couple.

But she had never considered another kind of relationship: friends with benefits. To him, that was all she was—a convenient partner to satisfy his physical desires.

Winifred's world shattered.

She was a proud and strong-willed person. So, after that summer, she found an excuse and broke up with Yvan.

Winifred sat motionless on the sofa, lost in the past.

It had been seven years, but the memory still sent a sharp, undeniable pain through her chest.

She thought she had moved on, that the memories had faded. But seeing Yvan again had brought it all rushing back, and the pain felt as fresh as ever.

…

Yvan had no memory of how he got home. He went straight to his room and didn't come out for the rest of the day, not even for dinner, using his tooth extraction as an excuse.

Monica was worried. She called her daughter, Yetta Brown.

"Yetta, honey, do you have any idea what's been going on with Yvan lately? He seems so down. And today, he's been cooped up in his room all day, didn't even come out for dinner."

This wasn't like Yvan at all.

Yetta replied, "No, I haven't heard anything. Are you and Dad still pushing him to go on dates and meet people?"

"I don't think so. He's never mentioned anyone."

Monica started to worry again. "Do you think he's carrying some kind of emotional baggage from that relationship? Is that why he won't date anyone?"

Yetta paused. "I don't think so. Yvan's not that fragile."

"You never know," Monica said, her voice laced with concern. "Yetta, you have no idea. Yvan told me he has no interest in dating at all. At his age, shouldn't his hormones be raging? Why would he not want to date?"

Now that she mentioned it, Yetta started to feel a flicker of doubt. Could her brother really be so hurt by a breakup that he'd sworn off dating for seven years?

"I have to know what happened between him and that girl," Monica declared. "Yetta, do you know who she was?"

Yetta shook her head. "No, but Todd and Simon probably do."